M'sian boy, 15, arrested in S'pore for suspected involvement in money laundering for PR scams

A 15-year-old Malaysian male teenager was arrested for his suspected involvement in money laundering offences.

On Apr. 9 and 11, the police received two reports of scams involving applications of permanent residency in Singapore.

In both cases, the victims allegedly handed over S$7,500 and S$2,200 to an unknown person after being instructed by scammers to do so.

The victims realised they had fallen victim to scams after checking with Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on the status of their applications.

Through follow-up investigations by officers from the Bedok Police Division, the identity of the teenager was established and he was arrested on Apr. 21.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the teenager was tasked by unknown individuals to collect and then hand over the cash from the victims.

The teenager is believed to be involved in other similar cases.

The teenager will be charged in court on Apr. 22 with the offence of assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct.

The offence carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years, a fine not exceeding S$500,000, or both.

The police also reminded members of the public never to transfer monies, hand monies or other valuables to any unknown persons or persons whose identity they have not verified.

With effect from Dec. 30, 2025, scammers and members or recruiters of scam syndicates will face mandatory caning of at least six strokes, which can go up to 24 strokes.

Scam mules who enable scammers by laundering scam proceeds will face discretionary caning of up to 12 strokes.

This includes certain money-laundering offences under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes

(Confiscation of Benefits) Act, Singpass offences under the Computer Misuse Act, and certain SIM-card offences under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act.

Image from Google Maps/Sp Rafil and Canva